Vincent G. Rinn Law Library

Judge Odas Nicholson ( 1924-2012 ) Was First African-American Woman to Graduate From DePaul Law School

A March 16, 2012 Chicago Tribune story reported the on the death of Judge Odas Nicholson. She was born in Mississippi in 1924 and came to Chicago when she was 13. She was  both a DePaul undergraduate and a graduate of the DePaul Law School.

In 2005 she received The Outstanding Service to the Profession Award from the law school which honors alumni with outstanding achievements in their chosen field or specialty. She was truly a pioneer, achieving many firsts for African-American women. (p.20)

"After graduating Marshall High School, she attended Wilson Junior College for two years before earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy from DePaul University. She was the only woman in her class and the first African-American woman to graduate from DePaul University's law school, according to the Women's Bar Association of Illinois. She was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1948."

According to the Chicago Defender, "Nicholson was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County by the Supreme Court of Illinois in November 1980 and was elected to a full term in November 1982. She served as a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County for 14 years prior to her retirement in December 1994. She was the first African-American woman assigned to the Law Division of the Court and the first woman assigned to the Motions Section where she served for eight years. She was also the first woman assigned an individual calendar."

In the Tribune story, William Maddux, a presiding judge in Cook County, and a former collegue of judge Nicholson, is quoted saying  that  "Odas was a trailblazer, no doubt about it," "She had a formidable mind combined with a good dose of common sense."

( Hat Tip to Glennis Jones-Marshall )

Family Law Center Lecture : Rape Allegations in the 21st Century

The Gift of Holiday Traditions: Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Christmas

This is the title of a National Endowment for the Humanities web site that is directed at teachers to provide information and questions for their students, to explore the Winter holidays many of us observe. But the historical and cultural insights presented, can be of value to any interested person who wants to better understand their own holiday practices and to also discover and appreciate those of other traditions.

As the title indicates, the text and links deal with practices that are centered in the African-American, Jewish and Christian traditions. But as historical investigation indicates, the early Pagans provided the bases for some of our current day rituals and practices, as well.

The link to "Christmas History and Christmas Traditions  -  Legends of Our Christmas Characters", shows the different influences from various countries on such chracters of Christmas as : Father Christmas (England), Kris Kringle (Germany), St. nicholas (Russia), Pere Noet (France), Santa Lucia (Sweden), La Befana (Italy), Jack Frost (Scadanavia) .

In the "Naughty & Nice: A History of The Holiday Season " link there is  a discussion of the history of Christmas in the slave south. Under the section "Naughty & Nice: Online Resources " there are more detailed explorations of each of the three major December Holidays.

While the celebration of these holidays usually highlights goodwill and sharing, there are rough spots where ideology, religion and politics come together. Where else but in court cases !  The "Christmas Wars": Holiday Displays and the Federal Courts", summarizes some of the contention in the U.S. over holiday religious displays.

 It is recommended that this last text, be read in the New Year after the season "Of peace on earth, good will to men!", has been enjoyed :-)

 

"Overload", Book Examines Impact of Information Overload

Many of us probably recognize that there is a tipping point both in business and in our own personal lives when ever greater access to information, no longer facilitates the activities directed to achieving our objectives. But rather begins to confuse and frustrate those activities, as the volume and number of options for information move beyond our abilities to deal with them.

This seems to be the situation that Jonathan B. Spira, author of the book, "Overload! How Too Much Information is Hazardous to your Organization", is addressing in his new book.

A quote from Larry Bowden, a vice president at computer giant IBM, really captures the crux of the problem, "Information Overload basically slows me down because I' m interacting with information that ’ s irrelevant and out of context and not allowing me to get to the end point to have the impact that I want.”

Mr. Spira explores the exponential growth in the generation of new information and knowledge and how greater access to this production, can detrimentally impact businesses and individual knowledge workers at work and in  their personal lives.

He claims that the very tools deployed to make knowledge workers more efficient have in turn bogged productivity down. He claims that "Information Overload has resulted in work days that never seem to end, completely destroying work/life balance and may even have "..caused people to lose their ability to manage thoughts and ideas, contemplate, and even reason and think."

Beyond exploring the negative impacts of information overload, Mr. Spira's book also provides pragmatic advice, tips, and strategies that the world’s leading organizations, including IBM, Intel, Morgan Stanley, and the U.S. Air Force have employed.

Mr. Spira's book would probably be of value to both managers and individual workers who may already be  experiencing the consequences  to information overload that he describes.

Link to Publisher page.

 

Supreme Court Librarian & Former DePaul Rinn Law Library Director Retiring

A posting yesterday, on the Law Librarian Blog, on the occasion of the announcement of the retirement of the U. S. Supreme Court Librarian, Judith Gaskell, provides a look back by two of the Blog's editors who knew and worked for Judy, years ago. One of them , Mark Giangrande, is currently on the Rinn Law library reference staff.

Link to posting : "Chief Justice Roberts Announces Retirement of Supreme Court Librarian Judy Gaskell"

Governor Quinn Signs Death Penalty Bill, Illinois Becomes 16TH State to Abolish

This past Wednesday, Illinois Governor Quinn signed the bill from the General Assembly that abolishes the death penalty in Illinois. It is now Public Act 096-1543. Senate Bill 3539 had been  adopted by the Illinois General Assembly in December after more than a decade of debate, discussion and analysis of Illinois’ system of capital punishment.

The Governor himself undertook a protracted process of evaluation with input from many constituencies both pro & con before coming to his decision. In a radio interview on a local station WBEZ, he said that he spoke with leaders of various faith traditions. He mentioned that the book, "A Gift of Peace" by the late Cardinal Bernadin had paricular influence on his decision. Among the religious he consulted was Sister Helen Prejean, longtime death penalty opponent who recently donated her personal archives to DePaul.

He also mentioned the input of former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens from Illinois regarding the inability of constructing an error-free and impartial death penalty system. Like the Justice, Governor Quinn does not believe, that is possible to have such a system in our state. He cites the 20 exonerations of Illinois death row inmates and the effects of factors such as race, economic status, geographic location, and also the  behavior of some prosecutors.

When asked whether the reforms to the sytem under previous legislation had fixed the problems. The Governor said he did not believe that mistakes would be eliminated even with the reforms. A system that would still run the risk of killing an innocent person, was not acceptable to him.

DePaul law Professor Andrea Lyon who has argued and won 19 death row cases herself, had encouraged Governor Quinn to sign the death penalty bill. In a commentary on the huffington Post she commended the Governor for his decison. She said that, "He made his points about his reasons with clarity and compassion saying -- as I also believe -- that people of good will can come out on this issue with differing points of view."

In an interview on local radio station WBEZ she also reiterated the governors point that reforms would not fix the system. She said that while some of the refroms have improved some procedures, wrongful convictions would still occur due to many factors that are not controlled and because we are human and fallible.

People of good will like our own Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and  Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez and several other prosecutors have opposed Gov. Quinn's decision, frequently citing the most gruesome cases of murders and the outrage that the families directly affected and the general public rightly feel.

But as Mark Osler,Professor of Law, University of St. Thomas, points out to all of us :

"...She has identified exactly the dynamic -- a narrow focus on the shocking facts of a case -- that led to so many innocent people being placed on death row in Illinois. The bare truth is that it is in these worst, most compelling cases that we too often convict the wrong person in haste, because the cry for retribution is so strong."

"When a child is shot, a policeman killed, a pregnant woman and her husband gunned down for someone's thrills, we are justifiably incensed. However, that public mood creates tremendous pressure on public servants like Madigan to bring someone to trial, and that pressure has led too often to the pursuit
of weak cases that led in the end to exoneration. It leads us right back to the scandal of innocents on death row that shocked us into action to reform the death penalty in the first place."

Check Out Free Online Tax Filing Options

  DePaul Financial Fitness program is designed to help students manage their money by providing free services, resources and tools. But their tips can be of use to non-students as well.

Recently, the site has posted some useful information to file your taxes  online for free. The Free File program from the IRS provides free federal income tax preparation and electronic filing for eligible taxpayers through a partnership between the Internal Revenue Service and the Free File Alliance LLC, a group of private sector tax software companies.

Help Me Find A Free FEDERAL Tax Filing Company, Wizard.

List of free federal tax filing companies showing states covered,income limits, age limits.

Find a free or paid STATE tax preparation and efiling services by State.

Human Rights Day, The Nobel Peace Prize & Wikileaks

Today Dec. 10 has been designated, Human Right Day, by the United Nations. The day commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Yesterday was also the day that the Nobel Committee awarded Chinese pro-democracy activist, Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize in abstentia. Both of these events highlight the continuing struggle to make the provisions of the declaration a reality in countries around the world.

Each year,  Human Righs Day has a particular focus for that year. In the past such issues as poverty,torture, discrimination and human right education have been focal issues. This year the focus is on "human rights defenders". As Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, states :

"We owe the progress we have made to the enormous efforts of hundreds of thousands of largely unsung heroes, known collectively as human rights defenders.Human rights defenders come from all walks of life, ranging from princesses and politicians, to professionals such as journalists, teachers and doctors, to people with little or no formal education. There are no special qualifications. All it takes is commitment, and courage."

"One important set of statistics is missing: we have no idea how many human rights defenders there are, or how many of them are intimidated, harassed, beaten up, jailed or killed each year. We have also failed to develop ways to measure their successes, which are often credited not to them but to the politicians or governments that finally listen to them or give in to their pressure. We need to do a much better job of defending our defenders."

At this specific historical juncture with the vociferous condemnation of the Nobel award by the Chinese government and the attempted prosecution and  demonization of Mr. Juliam Assange of Wikileaks, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration seems particularly relevant to the protection of our human rights defenders.

Article 19 states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

 We have high-profile politicians like Mr. Newt Gingrich self-righteously accusing  Mr. Assange of fictious crimes :

"Assange has published hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. documents on the Internet. Gingrich told Fox News' Judge Andrew Napolitano that Assange “is an active enemy combatant who is engaged in information warfare against the United States. What he is doing is going to have incalculable damage to this country. It is going to have a number of innocent people killed, a number of our allies killed. It is going to put Americans at risk.... This is an act of war against the United States.”

Mr. Gingrich begins to sound more like the Chinese officials who try to smear Mr.Liu Xiaobo :

"According to Chinese media reports, Liu Xiaobo has been used by western countries as a political tool in order to weaken China and throw the country into chaos. The Nobel Peace Prize was described as an award to Liu for committing treason."

"Liu Xiaobo broke Article 105, a crime of instigating the subversion of state power," Jiang said Thursday. "He went beyond general criticism of the state.

What often is lost in these fevered accusations, is placing the activities of such persons in a human rights context as "human rights defenders" who call attention to and take serious risks to defend those rights that Human Right Day was created to proclaim.

In regards to Mr. Assange and the wikileaks revelations, Amnesty international (AI) provides this context  and a thoughtful response to some of the hysteria that is developing around these releases. In a short question & answer format, AI raise the human rights issues involved and helps clarify some other issue in this case.

Some of the significant point that AI makes include :

While government can impose restricions on its employees and can take measures to keep it's communications confidential, it should only restrict freedom of expression to specific and narrowly-applied grounds.This canot constitute "...a blank cheque to keep information secret or to punish individuals for publishing it, simply by declaring the information to be “classified” or declaring it necessary to restrict it as a matter of "national security"..."

Ai has called upon Wikileaks to insure that individuals are not put at risk by being identied as sources in the documents. But this different from the risk of public embarrassment for particular officials.
"...criminal proceedings aimed at punishing a private person for communicating evidence about human rights violations can never be justified. The same is true with respect to information on a wide range of other matters of public interest."

"...governments cannot avoid their obligations to respect the right to freedom of expression by attempting to do indirectly what they would be forbidden from doing directly.  Businesses, too, should ensure that their own actions, at minimum, respect human rights."

Once classified information has been released, "...states cannot rely on sweeping claims of national interest to justify coercive measures aimed at preventing further public disclosure or discussion of the information."

The AI response reasserts the human right dimension of "dissident" freedom of expression here in the U.S. as well as in China. We should value the role that these human right defenders are playing for all of us.

DePaul Richardson Library Receives Scholarly Papers of Law Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni

 On November 22, the DePaul College of Law sponsored  a reception hosted at the DePaul Richardson Library, recognizing the donation of the scholarly papers of  Professor Law Emeritus, M. Cherif  Bassiouni and  for his works and contributions to improving  human rights worldwide.

On exhibit were many memorabilia from Professor Bassiouni ‘s long and continuing career.  It was announced that many of these artifacts would be displayed in the DePaul Political Science Department.

Law school Professor  and Associate Dean for Administration, Brian Havel,  and Executive Director of the International Human Rights Law Institute, Charles E. Tucker, along with former DePaul President, Fr. John T. Richardson, among others, made presentations at the reception. Professor Bassiouni, himself, provided a very intersting account of how he happened to become a DePaul faculty member.

Pictured above is a copy of the "Finding Aid and Chronology" for  the scholarly papers of Professor Bassiouni  prepared by the Special Collections Dept. of the Richardson Library. Kathryn DeGraff, Head, Special Collections and Archives,  presented a copy to Professor Havel. Also pictured, are two of the library employees in Special Collections who will be organizing, preserving and making the Bassiouni Collection available for research.

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday ‘Book Tasting’ Showcases Latest Books By DePaul Faculty Authors

DePaul University’s inaugural “Book Tasting,” which features some of the latest work by faculty authors, will be held Dec. 8 at 6 p.m. in the University Center Conference Chicago, 525 S. State St. In the spirit of a wine tasting, authors will offer a flavor of their fiction, topical nonfiction and poetry.

Admission is free and includes a wine raffle. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be provided. Guests must be 21 and over to attend because wine will be served. RSVP to the Office of Public Relations and Communications by Friday, Dec. 3 by clicking here. Or call (312) 362-8591.

Authors also will answer questions and sign copies of their books, which are perfect for holiday gifts. The following DePaul authors are scheduled to appear:

Larry Bennett, a professor of political science and author of “The Third City: Chicago and American Urbanism” (University of Chicago Press).

Joseph Ferrari, professor of psychology and Vincent dePaul distinguished professor, is author of “Still Procrastinating? The No Regrets Guide to Getting It Done” (John Wiley & Sons)

Rebecca Johns is an assistant professor of English and author of “The Countess” (Crown). The book is a fictionalization of the life of Elizabeth Bathory, known as the “Blood Countess” of Hungary—one of the most prolific serial killers in history.

Andrea Lyon is a professor of law, associate dean for Clinical Programs in the College of Law and director of the Center for Justice in Capital Cases. She is author of “Angel of Death Row” (Kaplan Publishing), which chronicles some of Lyon’s most compelling work as a criminal defense attorney.

Haki Madhubuti is the Ida B. Wells-Barnett university professor and author of “Liberation Narratives: New and Collected Poems 1966-2009” (Third World Press), a collection of his poetry spanning his illustrious career. He is an award-winning poet as well as founder and president of Third World Press.

Patricia Monaghan is a professor in the School for New Learning and author of “Wineries of Wisconsin and Minnesota” (Minnesota Historical Society Press). The book is a guide to 55 wineries ranging from small family-farm operations to the largest, most well-known wine producers.

Achy Obejas is the Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz writer-in-residence and teaches in the English department and the Latin-American and Latino Studies program. She is author of the novel “Ruins” (Akashic Books) that tells the story of an old man who eagerly supported the Cuban Revolution only to become increasingly isolated in his revolutionary zeal.

Regina Spellers Sims is a visiting assistant professor in the School for New Learning. She is co-editor of “Blackberries and Redbones: Critical Articulations of Black Hair/Body Politics in Africana Communities” (Hampton Press). The book features essays, poems and creative writing that examine the meanings of black anatomy in a changing world.